


Down Memory Lane

by True_Wilson20



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence (Major), Everybody who matters lives AU, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, Marauders Fest 2020, Mental-Health Care, Mentions of PTSD, Mentions of alcohol, Smut, Time Travel AU, everybody lives au, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:01:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29153184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/True_Wilson20/pseuds/True_Wilson20
Summary: What happens when a lonely, drunken night in the company of only each other turns into a quest to change the past and possibly the future?The fic is based on the prompt  B9-'Takes place during OotP; Remus and Sirius remember their time at Hogwarts over a bottle of Firewhiskey.'
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Marauders Fest 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big shoutout to [ AlexFlex ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexFlex/pseuds/AlexFlex/works) for the beta help throughout! Thank you so much! <3

‘I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.’

**Number 12 Grimmauld Place, 1995**

Nymphadora Tonks bid goodbye to the only occupants of the Grimmauld Place. As usual, a Patronus shrouded in a Muffliato leading to another hasty departure on Order business. Having wished for her success, both Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat at the old, dingy dining table and ordered Kreacher to bring firewhisky. It had been a long day of talking, planning and pining.

Kreacher walked into the room, muttering to himself under his breath – “Scum, dirtying the house of my mistress, unnatural beasts, half-bloods.” He handed them the bottle.

“Enough of you, Kreacher! Get away, will you!”

Kreacher continued to mutter under his breath, but bound, obeyed his master and left the kitchen.

“Must you be so rude to the elf?”

“Why shouldn’t I be? He goes around cursing the lot of you; it’s enough of his nonsense.”

“But try to be polite, he’s been here alone for so long. He’s bound to be bitter.”

“What about me, huh? I was alone in t-that prison for 12 years and now I am trapped again in this grimy old place! My home.” (He spits out ‘home’ as if it were a bitter poison)

Remus was extremely tired of having this conversation again and again. He had tried talking to Dumbledore asking him to at least let Sirius help with anything for the Order. But the old man was adamant. The lonely nights spent here were taking a toll on Sirius. Even turning into Padfoot was not helping him. Remus knew he had to proceed with the utmost caution if he were to continue this conversation without it ending in another quarrel. They couldn’t afford any more lost time or any broken glass.

“It’s for your own safety, Pads. You just need to get a little used to Krea-”

“Just because you’re used to all foul words thrown at you doesn’t mean we all are!”

Sirius’ face immediately turned from anger to regret. He had crossed the line with this one. Silence ultimately took over the two men as they sat together looking anywhere but each other.

Hoping to act as a bit of a peacemaker, Remus uncorked the bottle and poured the drink into two cut crystal glasses. He offered the one with the most alcohol to Sirius and took a big gulp from his own, only filled halfway.

“I’m sorry.”

Remus nodded in acknowledgement. Proceeding with a conversation with fingers surrounding delicate glass and a head buzzing with alcohol was unwise. He continued to drink in silence.

Sirius was fidgeting a bit with his glass as if mentally debating whether to heed Remus or to apologize again for his actions. He chose the former and a prickly stillness enveloped them.

With the alcohol completely muffling his thoughts, Sirius’ head began to spiral. The unnerving solitude transformed into big clouds of black dust. Black cloaks, slender bodies, a hollow mouth, dementors. The calm of his surroundings carried him back twelve years. He suddenly felt cold and a shiver ran down his spine. He looked towards his right but couldn’t see Remus properly anymore. His eyes only transfigured him into the images of the monstrosity that guarded the Azkaban prison. He anxiously looked around only to be met with more silence, which meant more of his own thoughts, James, Lily, Harry, Remus, Moony, Moony…

“Sirius, are you okay?”

Remus shook him out of his spiralling. These slips of memory were starting to occur more frequently.

“What? Yes, yes.”

Sirius’ eyes gazed at Remus as if seeing him for the first time. He took his time adjusting to the present and then gulped his drink down and suddenly got up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check on Kreacher, he’s been awfully quiet for a long time now, probably in the attic.”

Remus nodded again and Sirius left him on his own. After making sure he was out of his sight, Remus took out the magazine he had bought from a Muggle shop. A guide to dealing with the stress of past trauma. He flipped through the index and began reading. If Dumbledore had given up on Sirius, let him, he’ll take care of him himself.

After some awfully quiet moments, Remus heard a voice

“Sirius!”

Remus jumped in surprise. He immediately put the magazine back in his coat pocket and looked up. It couldn’t be-

“Harry! What are you- what’s happened, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, just fancied a chat with the both of you.”

“I’ll call him”, Remus got up to his feet and ran out of the kitchen. He climbed up the stairs and yelled his name.

“SIRIUS!”

Remus didn’t fancy going up into the attic itself. The place reeked of various odd spells, not to mention all the cursed objects it probably carried. He climbed halfway up the stairs leading to the second floor and called for him again.

“SIRIUS!”

Sirius hurriedly came running out of the attic, the sounds of his footsteps heavily rebounding off the stairs.

“Yes, what is it, everything alright?”

“Harry, he flooed, said he wanted to talk.”

“What! Oh, I hope he’s okay. Hurry Remus!”

Sirius reached the fireplace first and asked panting “What is it?”

He swept his long dark hair out of his eyes and dropped to the ground in front of the fire so that he and Harry were on the same level. Remus awkwardly stood behind for a while, deciding whether to continue to stand or drop-down as well but finally did the latter.

“Are you alright? Do you need help?”

“No, it’s nothing like that, I just wanted to talk...about my dad.”

Both the men shared a look and Remus nodded at Harry urging him to continue. Harry told them everything he had seen at the Pensieve. His dad harassing Snape, Sirius getting a laugh out of it and his mum coming to his defence. When he had finished, none spoke for a moment until Remus found the silence overbearing and spoke quietly,

“I wouldn’t like you to judge your father about what you saw there, Harry. He was just fifteen, we-”

“I am fifteen.” Harry was beginning to lose patience, Remus observed, how his eyebrows furrowed together and lip pouted just like James, “He hexed Snape for simply being there just because you said you were bored and Professor Lu-”

“Remus, call me Rem-”

Sirius interrupted in and quickly added, “I’m not proud of it.”

Remus looked at him sideways, a look of complete scepticism.

“Your father and Sirius were the best at everything at school be it studies, sports, anything and Snape wasn’t really on the best of terms with us, he wouldn’t leave a chance to hex your father either.”

Harry nodded solemnly but still remained unconvinced.

“He continued to mess up his hair”, Harry added painfully.

“I forgot he used to do that”, Sirius said affectionately, his hand roaming on the ground to find Remus.’

“Was he playing with the Snitch?” Remus asked eagerly, his hands being found by Sirius.

“Yeah”, said Harry, who was watching uncomprehendingly as Sirius and Remus beamed reminiscently. “Well...I thought he was a bit of an idiot.”

“Of course he was a bit of an idiot!”, Sirius continued with the widest grin on his face, “We all were! Well Moony not so much”. His hand found Remus’ and their fingers intertwined.

Remus brought their joined hands close together.

“However, I do regret not telling you to lay off Snape or tell you to stop.”

“But you did make us feel ashamed afterwards...sometimes…”

“And”, said Harry doggedly, determined to say now that everything was on his mind now he was here, “He kept looking at the girls by the lake, hoping they were watching him!”

“Oh well, he always made a fool of himself whenever Lily was around, he couldn’t stop showing off.”

“It’s a wonder she married him.”

“Indeed, a wonder, Harry”, Remus added, “We all were surprised when Lily agreed to go on a date with him back in seventh?” He furrowed his eyebrows and looked towards Sirius, his head tilting questioningly, Sirius nodded and he continued, “Yes, seventh year.”

“Ah, the year James decided to finally grow a pair.”

“So J-my dad stopped hexing Snape?”

“Random people? Yes, but Snape was a special case, neither could spare a chance to harm each other.”

“And my mum was OK with that?”

“She didn’t know much to tell you the truth”, said Sirius.

“It’s somewhat like you and Draco, neither of you has liked each other since you’ve met nor does there seem a possibility that you ever would.” Remus’ words seemed to have left an impact on Harry as he was rendered quiet for a bit of pondering.

Sirius frowned at Harry, who was still looking unconvinced.

“Look”, he said, “your father was the best friend both of us could ever have and what you saw was just a phase he had at fifteen, he grew out of it, unlike Sniv-”

Remus immediately interrupted and added, “He sure grew it out of it.”

Harry nodded solemnly and after a few more minutes of silence finally spoke only to talk about how Snape had refused to offer any more lessons in occlumency and how he was indifferent to the whole situation. Sirius had expressed his anger by yelling but only to be calmed by Remus softly running his thumb over his knuckles. They followed up by throwing various suggestions at him.

“You should’ve gone to Dumbledore.”

“You should’ve gone to Minnie!”

But nothing was concluded.

Suddenly, Harry stopped mid-sentence and very gently asked if the footsteps he had heard were Kreacher’s and upon a negative reply immediately withdrew himself from the floo network.

Silence filled the kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, again.

Sirius let out a deep sigh and got up, the smile on his face infectious and he automatically appeared several years younger. His face is made handsome by the smile and was brighter than his own namesake.

Remus looked up at him, carefully watching him. Sirius offered his arm to him and he happily took it getting up much to the protest of his body and cracking joints.

“I wish Harry would talk to us more, I gave him the mirror, you know, for Christmas, wrapped in a nice brown paper.”

“Inseparable, the two of you, couldn’t bear to spend more than five minutes without talking to each other, charmed a mirror from a muggle shop to talk! Tell me again how did YOU not marry James?”

“Because I was already in love with a certain someone.”

Remus looked away suddenly while a deep crimson coloured his face and Sirius’ eyes glistened over the fond memories with a hint of mischief.

“And he also didn’t swing the other way”, Sirius added with a wink.

Both the men laugh and a sudden shift in the environment takes place. Gloomy is transformed into gleeful.

“I wish there was a way we could go back to these days, I want to relive them, see James and Lily again, be a family again.”

“I wish there was a way too,” Remus added, eyes fixed on Sirius whose mood dropped as fast as it rose.

“Only if we could go back in time.”

Something clicked in Remus’ head but he chose to ignore it. Monitoring Sirius’ behaviour was important for his post-Azkaban recovery. Losing nearly your entire family and being put up in a prison that feeds on one’s positive thoughts, depleting them and being lucky enough to escape later only to be put back in another one had compelled him to take the matter of his health in his own hands rather than trusting anyone else within the Order.

“I really wish we had a time turner. Hermione shouldn’t have returned hers.” Sirius spoke suddenly.

“Meddling with time is not a safe thing to do.” Remus knew what the conversation was leading to. He glanced up towards the attic and then quickly looked down hoping to remain unnoticed.

“The kids meddled with time to save Buck and my life.”

“They didn’t meddle with time, they just went back and prevented it from ever happening.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Slightly different. They went back into the past to change a thing of the future that hadn’t occurred in the present.”

Sirius seemed lost. He had been too overwhelmed and frightened with everything that had happened that day that he didn’t even remember most of it. But the Black heir never ran out of ideas.

“We could borrow Dumbledore’s pensieve”, Remus laid out a suggestion.

“But what’s the fun in that? We have a time turner, we can do it.”

“No, pads, it’s not safe. Do you realise how bad it could damage our timelines if we stepped even one of our toes out of line?”

“Look, had Harry and Hermione not saved me that day, I would have been rotting away in a cell in Azkaban with no soul in my body. That would have been a new timeline! They went to the past and it changed things for the better! Besides, we’re just going as spectators.”

“For every circumstance, we’re provided with countless outcomes, each leading to a different destination. For every path we choose, a complete replica of ours chooses the other in an alternate universe. When we use a time-turner to go back, it will cause interference with the two opposite timelines leading to a new one where any of us might not even exist!”

“Alright, I didn’t understand a word you just said and from where I’m looking, you’re hinting at the possibility of another universe where I get the Dementor’s kiss?”

“NO! There is no alternate universe where you ever get the kiss. As I said, the future was changed before it happened in the present and so no other outcome was ever established.”

Sirius was left pondering with these words. He casually kept running his thumb over his lower lip, a reminiscence of a younger Sirius thinking deeply before his face broke out into a grin and he announced a new prank The Marauders were sure to be up to.

“I just want to see James. Just once, meet him, hug him, tell him I am grateful for all he ever did for me, I never really said thank you, did I?” Remus opened his mouth to protest but Sirius is quicker. “We thought we had all the time in the world. Things changed so fast after we left Hogwarts I-”

Sirius sighed deeply. Remus offered him a smile and leaned closer to him.

“I want to see James and Lily too but-”

“But what, Remus? Nothing is stopping us! Dumbledore doesn’t need you for a mission, full moon’s three weeks away and I’m completely useless lying here! We even have a time-turner; I know there is one in the attic!”

“That time turner could be ages old! What if it doesn’t work?”

“And that’s where you underestimate the Blacks!’ Sirius' eyes gleamed with the prospect of finally getting his way and he raised a pitch-black eyebrow in response.

Upon seeing Remus’ puzzled expression, Sirius continued,

“My bitch of a mother had one made when I was sorted. She wanted to switch the heirs. Made me take an unbreakable vow so I won’t tell anyone. The vow died when she did.”

“B-But what? How does it work?”

“Mr Borgin owed my mother a favour and personally crafted it for her. She thought better of it and never really got around to using it. The Malfoys’ have been after it for years. No wonder he wanted to marry Cissy, thought he’ll get it as her dowry. Voldemort made Regulus get it for him but Mother was clever enough to hide it. She thought Voldemort was after The Blacks’ wealth to gain power and immediately asked Regulus to resign. Poor chap got himself killed.”

Remus was too amazed by this piece of information to respond. He had been aware of the turner in the attic. He had found it hidden in a simple glass cupboard while they had been cleaning the place back in July but never really thought about its abilities or the fact that it is not as modern as the ones the Ministry has. He knew that they could spend hours debating how rectifying past mistakes was pointless and unwise. But one look at Sirius’ adamant face and the overwhelming desire to see his friends, Remus’ own desire to see his mother and feel being young again took over and he agreed. 

“Let’s do it, then.”

Sirius’ face twisted into a smile and he got up and reached for Remus’ arm, ready.

Both the men ran up the stairs towards the attic. Sirius was quicker and reached there before Remus who took his time climbing up. He fumbled in his coat pockets to find his wand but the rush and excitement of getting to see James made him forget it. Remus, who was just five more steps away, summoned it for him. With a basic unlocking charm, the door squeaked open and a strong scent of dark magic mixed with a bit of urine and food wafted out of it. Remus’ senses remained heightened even a few days after his transformation immediately, covered his nose. He had instantly identified the smell.

Sirius at once, found Kreacher lurking around the corner and ordered him out. He stepped in, bowed and gently patted Buckbeak. He had grown to like the hippogriff. It had after all been his sole companion for nearly the entirety of last year.

Remus was hesitant to step inside. It wasn’t just the smell that repulsed him but the general ambience of the room. The vials of darkly coloured potions that were placed in the order of a darkening rainbow on a shelf whose wood was probably older than the house for all its discolouration and infestations with worms. Buckbeak occupied the only corner with a window that served as the sole illuminator was extremely unwelcoming. He could sense that he was a werewolf and was not shy in admitting his distrust for him. Conjuring a handkerchief and charming his nose to be blocked, Remus finally entered.

Upon sensing Remus entering, Buckbeak immediately grew restless and would have charged at him had he not been tied to a post in the corner. The hippogriff kept his eye fixed on Remus and watched his every move. Sirius, who had not been of much help when they had been cleaning and tidying the house was aimlessly looking everywhere; his eyes widened with the flashbacks of his childhood and the realisation of how truly evil his ancestors were.

The attic was built long after the house. Sirius Black II had ordered it to be built for the purpose of gathering antique items that ranged from a simple genie’s lamp to the grandfather clock that was designed to tick for only as long as the males of the Black household thrived. Remus watched it tick and it appeared to fasten for every second he continued to look. Next to the giant clock, was another portrait. This belonged to Melania Black who silently abhorred them. Her commands were superior to those of Walburga’s and Kreacher heeded to hers now. Behind her, Remus could see the outline of gold frames lining other portraits that had been placed before hers. If Sirius were to marry a woman and have biological children, his wife’s picture would be moved to the position of prominence. The Blacks were indeed peculiar with a great sense of eeriness that came with their uncanny behaviour and traditions. It was sheer luck on Sirius’ part that he managed to escape before he could get the chance to fall down the same spiral.

The attic was quite spacious and carried various items that would have made the Malfoys’ jealous. Most of them were intended to remain hidden and away from the public eye. But call it the Blacks’ arrogance or their general sense of superiority which came with the virtue of their birth, they never really thought that any outsiders would discover this particular place and no Black in their right mind would bring an outsider to it either.

Melania Black had remained silent so far.

Remus was quick to spot the glass cupboard and beckoned Sirius towards it. Both of them stood in front to estimate the extent of magical protections used. Sirius seemed to be examining it with a look of contentment while Remus still remained slightly unsure.

“The unlocking charm won’t work, my mother was not that daft.”

Melania’s portrait huffed slightly at his words but continued to watch them, eyes dark and burning with curiosity.

“There must be some kind of dark spell enclosing it; something like this would have all the protection it needs.”

“Knowing my mother, there would be a series of dark spells.”

Remus chewed on his bottom lip, thinking deeply on what to do. They had found the time turner quite easily, there was something wary in that but getting it out of the cupboard was another thing to worry about. He racked his brains for everything that can be used for protection of non-living precious objects. Even if the cupboard was bound by some old magic, the last of the Blacks would at least be able to open it.

“Alohomora.”

The glass handle didn’t even flinch. Sirius blushed deeply and quietly murmured, “worth a try.”

However, Remus’ sensitive’s ears caught the slightest of movements that came as a tiny snake embodied out of silver twisted in its place and a huge beam of light reflected from the glass.

“Salvio hexia.” Luckily, Remus was quicker.

The glass shaped into tiny spears came blasting out from the cupboard and the light dome that came out of Remus’ wand rebounded them into landing right behind the pair where it ended into five concentric circles.

“That’s my mother for you,” Sirius added while lying on the floor heavily panting. His hand just inches away from the glass circles.

“What were you thinking? At least use your head before you go on acting.” Remus may have gently scolded Sirius but was internally glad that the charm had shown its feat and they just need to be more careful now.

“Your mother would have enchanted it to repulse intruders, which by definition of the Blacks meant anyone who wasn’t pure of blood. Pads, why don’t you put your palm on the glass? Let’s test it out.”

Sirius put his left palm on the glass and Remus, wand ready pointed it in the same direction, just in case. Nothing seemed to happen for a while until the silver snake twisted again but only with a soft ‘click’ this time. Sirius withdrew his palm and both the men looked at the cupboard in bewilderment.

“Has the shield lifted?”

“Not that easily.” Remus continued to look scanning every edge carefully. “Don’t touch it, you daft-!” He batted Sirius’ hand away and glared at him. Sirius could be so reckless at times.

“Magus Revelio!”

Three arches of different colours appeared almost at once engulfing the cupboard within. The spell revealed only the protections put up against it but this much was enough for them to try out every glass penetration spell they could think of.

“Clypeus Acies Mentes!”

“Acies Mentes Speculo!”

One arch disappeared leaving behind a poofy mess. Its colour pigmenting the air around it. Melania’s portrait let out an indignant scream in the background.

“We just need to break the second one, NOW!”

“Vitro Crepuit!”

“Confringo.”

Remus and Sirius had cast the spell at the same time and much to their amazement, its combined effect broke the second arch as well nearly shattering it into pieces of translucent glass that began to move slowly in the air. No colour tinctured the space around.

Sirius broke into a laugh and deliberately bumped into Remus in celebration. “Take that mother.”

“Just one more to go and we can-”

“We can go back.” Sirius completed the sentence for him. Remus softly smiled.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Bombarda!”

“Bombarda Maxima!”

Remus was sure he could hear the particles of arch breaking away from each other one by one. A little more and they’re a leap closer.

“Reducto!”

“Perdere maxima!”

The glass-arch shattered into tiny pieces and the permutation of such huge amounts of magic blasted the contents of the room. The potion vials exploded and the roof of the attic blew away. The hands of the clock fell off and portrait after portrait began to zoom around. A piece of glass had cut into the metal chains of Buckbeak and the creature waited no longer than a second to fly away into the open sky. A huge bang would have followed after had Remus not been quick enough.

“Arresto momento!”

Luckily, Sirius’ quick reflexes caught the time turner whose gold chain immediately coiled itself around Sirius’ left hand and he wasted no time in frolicking around or even cleaning up the mess they’ve left behind. He grabbed Remus by his shirt, put the chain around their neck and swirled his wand to the digits of September first, nineteen seventy-one.

There was a giant whoosh of light. A smash of noise. And time stopped. And then it turned over, thought a bit and began to spool backwards, slow at once... and then it sped up.

The last thing Remus saw before he was pulled into the small tunnel of the space-time curve was a horrified Kreacher clicking his fingers together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote at the beginning is by Andy from The Office (US Version) from the last episode.


	2. Chapter 2

**September 1** **st** **, 1971, King’s Cross Station, London**

Remus landed hard and fast on a grey pavement, hurting his hip in the process. He took a moment to take in his surroundings and gently rubbed his backside to somewhat subside the pain. A man so engrossed in his newspaper barely took notice of a sudden wizard landing. The sound of a train engine approaching reached his ears and he realised that he was lying on the pavement under the ticket counter of King’s Cross Station, London. The Muggle side.

So, they had successfully reached back in time. 

Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Remus immediately got up and with one hand in his pocket clutching his wand and the other supporting his hip as he began to look around. A glitch in time would cost heavy. He needed to find Sirius. Remus mentally blamed himself for this. He knew it was a bad idea. An idea he should have never consented to. But the thought of seeing his friends overtook the very idea of subtlety and Remus had now lost another friend in the process, again.

He moved into the station and glanced around. Somewhere around the corner, an owl hooted and he followed it. The barmy owl belonged to a little boy who looked barely eleven due to his short stature and was being constantly smothered by kisses by his mother much to the boy’s embarrassment. It took Remus a second glance to identify who the boy was. That was not a face he would ever forget. The blonde hair, blue eyes, chubby face, the reason James and Lily were dead- Peter Pettigrew. It took him all his self-control to not throw a hex at him or curse him into oblivion right there and then. Remus’ eyes soon found another boy of the same age. But this time, it was not the boy who caught his attention but rather the woman, the boy’s mother that did. Green eyes, the feathered haircut, dirty blonde hair- Hope Lupin,  _ his _ mother.

He was seeing her after nearly seventeen years. Long before, her illness had caused her untimely death. Back when the war was just starting to gain momentum.

“Remus!”

Both he and his younger self steered towards the direction of the name source. Hope Lupin looked wearily at the man who had just called her son. The man wore a simple muggle T-shirt with jeans and had long, dark hair. There was a look of surprise on his features with a tinge of exhaustion that never really seemed to leave him- Sirius.

The adult Remus rushed towards him and took him towards a dark corner nearby. Luckily, the young Remus and Hope were distracted by Lyall coming to guide them into entering the wall and they left with Hope casting one last glance towards the pair. Remus watched her longingly as she entered the wall connecting platforms nine and ten.

“Where were you? I have been looking for you forever! I thought I lost you, Moony. Moony? What are you looking at?  _ Oh.  _ I’m sorry _. _ ”

Remus simply nodded back in return.

The time was ticking fast. It was nearly fifteen minutes till eleven. Fifteen minutes till the train would leave for Hogwarts. Both the men mutually decided to enter the platform right then. Sirius came running from a distance and entered along with a family he was sure he wasn’t related to. Remus simply walked in, alone.

The wall still took him by surprise. The enchantments that have remained on it so far and connected both the worlds together. 1971 would mark the last year muggle parents were allowed in. Remus did not like bidding goodbye to his mother at the muggle part of the station. She never got to see him get smothered by his friends trying to see who could lift him for the longest. She never got to see when he and Sirius had proudly held hands and entered the train together. How brave they had felt that day.

However, this time he immediately found Sirius waiting for him at the other side but his eyes kept looking around. A head of feathered blonde hair was not that easy to lose in a crowd. Both of them moved towards a corner hoping to stay out of sight until Sirius spotted eleven-year-old James and nearly let out a yelp of happiness gathering the attention of a few passersbyes and parents who looked at them and their clothes suspiciously and caused Remus to cast a disillusionment charm on them.

They watched young James Potter hug his parents and Euphemia trying her best to tame his hair a little bit. Fleamont Potter ‘accidentally’ slipped a bag of dungbombs in his son’s pockets much to Euphemia’s displeasure.

“James, promise me, you’ll not cause any trouble on your way to Hogwarts?”

“So, only on the way to Hogwarts, huh?”

“James, you know what I mean.”

Remus watched Sirius gaze at them with a smile but his eyes betrayed the look on his face. His eyes glistened the longer he continued to look. Remus’ eyes soon found another young boy of eleven also watching the interaction between James and his parents unfold. That little boy was already in his school robes that had been tailored to perfection. His short, jet black hair neatly combed with not a single strand out of place. His shoes glowed with the amount of polish they had on them that even Remus could spot it shining from a distance. The boy looked with his jaw pressed hard and envy in his eyes while his mother continued to whisper in his ear. Another shy, timid boy also stood next to the mother.

Remus patted Sirius on his arm and pointed him towards that direction.

“Sirius, is that you?”

Sirius huffed indignantly and nodded. It was indeed him, his mother and Regulus.

“You look better with short hair.”

“My dear mother enchanted them to look like that. Took me a year to break that spell.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.”

The train engine whistled in the background. They watched James bid a final goodbye to his parents and leave for the train. Young Sirius ran immediately after as a young Regulus looked on before apparating away with his mother. Young Remus and Peter were nowhere to be seen.

The men stood there and watched for a while. They watched as the train began to slowly move. They saw James entering a compartment which already contained a girl with fiery red hair sitting with her face glued to the window as she looked out. Sirius soon entered the same compartment. 

“Why did you follow James, there? I suppose you were forbidden to talk to him?”

“Nah, I went for the dungbombs. A friend was just a bonus.”

They chuckled lightly and watched as the train sped off until it was just a tiny dot. Their fingers brushed slightly as they continued to look.

Soon, the parents were starting to clear off one by one. Remus still hadn’t spotted his mother. He could’ve sworn he saw her head somewhere far off but that too had soon faded.

“We should head back now. The Order-

“Hey Remus, can we see Reg getting sorted? I never got to see that.”

Sirius looked completely dazed and his eyes seemed distracted. He continued to look at the ground as he made his wish making it harder for Remus to decline. Sirius had been so nervous on the day of Regulus’ sorting that he had refused to sit through it. He had straightaway gone to the common room and stood outside waiting until the prefects came and he was led through. That very night, they had found the kitchens, purely on accident and driven by a hungry and irritated Sirius who was in much need of a distraction.

“Sure, one year after from now.”

Sirius took the turner in his hand and swirled his wand to the digits of the evening of the first of September, nineteen seventy-two.

There was a giant whoosh of light and a smashing noise that came from the background. Before Remus could close his eyes and let the wonders of time take him through, he spotted the dirty blonde and blue eyes heading his way and before he could do anything, his surrounding spun and he landed hard and fast on the concrete road connecting the village of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**September 1** **st** **1972, Hogwarts**

Sirius came running from a distance and stopped at reaching the gates to catch his breath.

“Why do we always land far away from each other?”

“Probably some kind of after-effect of magic performed on this turner. Do you mind wearing it for the meantime?”

Sirius handed the time turner to Remus who wore it around his neck and cast a disillusionment charm on it as well.

The gates of Hogwarts opened up and both the men walked in. Without any carriages to carry them, walking such a huge distance was a menace and Sirius had very proudly suggested they apparate directly inside to which Remus had to control the urge to smack him and very kindly reminded him for the probably hundredth time that you couldn’t apparate in and out of Hogwarts.

“Not even if you’re a professor?”

“How would I know that?”

“I thought being a Hogwarts professor might have its benefits.”

“I did actually have a few, thank you very much. Apparating is just not one of them”

“Not even for the headmaster?”

“Sirius, I can barely walk this far with knees like mine. Don’t make me talk along with it!”

The rest of their journey was spent silently and they cast one last invisibility charm once again and quietly entered the Great Hall. All the first years were yet to arrive and the rest of the students sat at their respective tables chatting merrily.

Sirius spotted his young self storming off his table and going away for his dorm. Remus had tried to follow him but James had held him down and made him sit down and simply signed to ‘let him be’ with a light shrug of his shoulder.

The door banged open and frightened eleven-year-olds entered inside. Their mouths wide open with wonder and cheeks flushed with having rendered the entire hall silent. Professor McGonagall unrolled a giant piece of parchment in her hands and began to call names.

“Black, Regulus!”

The three marauders, the adult Sirius and Remus and the entire Slytherin table watched with great inquisitiveness as the youngest of all Blacks walked forward and sat on the stool, the sorting hat completely engulfing his face leaving only the chin.

Remus could see Sirius tensing up next to him. They were fully aware even back then what house Regulus was going to get and yet the entire hall and two men from the future watched with their entire focus.

Regulus was furiously shaking his head and constantly muttering ‘please’, ‘no’ and something along the lines of ‘Slytherin’ before the sorting hat yelled what was already anticipated. The young boy slightly relaxed and looked at the Gryffindor table, eyes searching for his brother. He visibly saddened and left for his own table where he was met with a great cheer from his peers and cousins.

Remus took Sirius’ hand and gently squeezed it. Sirius squeezed back and Remus took it as their cue to leave.

Once outside onto the grounds, Remus lifted the invisibility charm from his locket and knowing that Sirius definitely needed to revisit a good old memory, he swirled his wand to the hours of the evening of their last day at Hogwarts and with a giant whoosh of light, he was pulled into the confinements of space-time and landed, this time softly on the green grass of a field.

**30** **th** **June 1977, The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade**

The Sun was minutes away from setting into the horizon. A group of four rowdy boys accompanied by three young girls stumbled into Rosmerta’s bar and sat at the very end of it. Giddy and flushed from having just graduated from Hogwarts and racing all the way to the bar, the seven of them ordered a round of firewhisky.

“We’re all of age, Marta! Bring 'em on!”

The adult versions of Remus and Sirius landed on the grass and quickly found each other for having been in the field a number of times. It took Sirius sometime before he realised where they had reached and a small smile appeared on his face.

“Graduation party”

“We got pissed at this one.”

“James was such a lightweight. Got drunk within the second round and tried asking Lily out! Nearly cried when she said she was taken!”

“Ah, the days of no worries.”

“The good ol’ days.”

They began to walk towards the village as the Sun began to drop low. The summer evening and the warmth of invisibility surrounded them. They reached the bar fairly fast and entered inside.

The door opened and closed with a gentle breeze got in. Rosmerta looked at with a look of mild confusion since she had not really seen anyone entering. She put down her glass and mentally decided to not have any of her own drinks at least before dusk.

Their young counterparts ordered another round and the table was getting louder by the moment. A very flushed James excused himself from the table and went off to the loo while everyone roared with laughter and Lily watched him go and then followed after. Remus and Sirius had moved a little closer to each other.

The adult Remus looked at the scene unfold with fondness reflecting from his very eyes. But something seemed off, he remembered this memory as a good one for a certain thing that was to occur any moment now but he felt like there was definitely something missing, something he was forgetting, something pivotal. Only thirty-five of age and had already started to forget. Sirius cleared his throat next to him and he looked up to see his young counterpart being deeply kissed by Sirius’. Remus looked around and saw that Lily and James were yet to return, Madam Rosmerta had gone into the kitchen, Marlene and Dorcas were fully engrossed in a conversation regarding some Quidditch player while Peter had looked away out of sheer politeness at such public display of affection. He felt his stomach flip as he saw himself kissing back with the same vigour.

Any time now.

A huge blasting sound came from outside and eventually separated the kissing couple. All five of them had taken their wands out and started to scan the bar for any potential attackers inside. Lily and James had emerged from the loo as well with their wands ready. Rosmerta came running from the kitchen and immediately locked the entrance. She muttered another incantation and the entire bar went dark.

“You children are to stay here until I tell you so, alright? Make no noise and don’t move! The second attack in a week, honestly! And with children around! Oh, Merlin!”

The adult Remus and Sirius had taken their wands out as well. Remus was still unable to recall as to what exactly had occurred. For as long as he could remember, all of them had gone back to their respective homes via the train the next day and everyone was safe and sound.

There was another bang outside followed by the scream of a woman.

There was rustling inside the bar and Remus saw young Sirius getting up.

“I don’t care, James! We’re no longer children! Are you coming or not?”

“There is no way you’re going to fight, Sirius! They could be Death Eaters!”

“So what? School’s over. It’s time to fight for the war now.”

“Not all of us are of age, Sirius! The Ministry could track us down.”

“The Ministry can’t do shit if we’re just trying to save our bloody arses!”

“Sit down both of you! None of you are to leave the bar! Dumbledore’s orders!”

It suddenly clicked Remus and he realised he had picked the wrong memory. He had confused a very pleasant one with the attack. They had had two graduation parties. One where they had snuck out in the evening to Hogsmeade and had been attacked and another one that was a week later as a way to forget the previous one. He was supposed to go there and not at this one.

The young Sirius paid no attention whatsoever to James or Rosmerta telling him to sit down. He quickly went over to the entrance door and stood there squinting his eyes while looking outside as if trying to analyse his plan of action and with a quite swish, he was out into the village. James soon followed after him.

The older Sirius was no different. As soon as he saw James leaving the bar, he too had immediately gone after him. Both versions of Remus were fuming with Sirius’ recklessness but only the old one went outside. He placed a locking charm on the door as left.

“Sirius! Stop! Please stop! Don’t do anything!”

“Moony, we need to save these people!”

“No, we don’t, we’re not supposed to mess anything up SIRIUS NO!”

But it was too late, Sirius had gone too far.

“Impedimenta!”

The red light slowed down in its path and then immediately burst into tiny particles. The Death Eater looked onto the spell’s direction in confusion. The disillusionment charm was still intact.

The young Sirius cast a stunner in the Death Eater’s direction and he was on the floor within seconds. Then, he along with James began to move towards the Hog’s head.

“Moony, we need to stop ourselves from doing anything stupid!”

“Sirius, we can always go back!”

“NO! We’re not going back leaving everything like this!”

And hence, Sirius followed his young counterpart and entered into the battlefield while he was still invisible. Remus, as helpless as ever, eventually followed him.

Spells were being thrown from every direction. On any other night, this sight would have adorned the sky. Red crashed with red, yellow hit a few rocks uphill and blew up, purple mixed with its opponents blue and vanished into thin air.

The young James and Sirius were actively fighting, shooting spell after spell at every cloaked figure they could spot in the darkness of the night.

“Levicorpus!”

The Death Eater was swept off his feet into thin air with one foot dangling and struggling to find hard ground. He was levitated higher and higher until the fall could turn fatal and then was suddenly dropped. His head hit the ground and he showed no movement after that. 

“Reducto”

Sirius fired the spell at a wall of rocks nearby blowing it onto the two Death Eaters who had stood by it casting magic wordlessly. Both of them had fallen to the ground as well.

“Expelliarmus!”

“Nice one, James! HEY WATCH OUT-”

A stroke of a green light missed James by inches. He was thrown onto the ground by a heavily panting Remus who had managed to escape from the bar and had joined the fight.

“Blimey Moony!”

One of the Death Eater’s mask came off revealing his face and his very identity and the people around were quick to cast a bounding charm and ganged upon him. The rest of the Death Eaters had fled.

The adult Remus cast a protective shield around the three boys who laid on the ground, catching their breaths. 

“Where’s Lily?”

“Back at the bar. She’s safe. I enchanted the door so nobody could come inside or go out.”

“Ahhhh god bless Moony!”

“And you! You think you’re so brave coming out to fight like this!” Remus smacked Sirius hard on his arm. Both the young and the old one winced together.

“Ow! That hurt, Remmy!”

“That did hurt, Remmy!” The adult Sirius cooed at Remus as he too began to rub his arm. His face beaming with the reminiscence of the old nickname.

“I don’t care if it hurt! What on Earth has gotten into you? What head of yours do you even use to think!?”

“I’m sorry! I swear I won’t-”

“Sorry, my arse! Get up now!” 

“Alright, guys, I’m going to head towards the girls. Tell them we’re alright.” James was certain none of them had heard him or even bothered to see that he had gotten up and started to go back to The Three Broomsticks. He simply let his friends have their spat and went on.

“What if something had happened to you or James? What if we had gotten caught? Do you realise how much trouble James’ is in for using underage magic? The ministry owl will be here at any moment now!”

“Calm down, Remus! The Ministry can’t do anything if we’re just trying to protect ourselves!”

A lot of people had started to gather around them and watch. Remus had seen this too and he simply murmured a quiet ‘follow me’ and began to move away. The caught Death Eater produced nonsensical noises as he was left bound on the ground with his lips sealed shut.

The young Sirius got up, cleaned himself free of any dust and followed Remus as asked. Remus was walking rather fast and was heading towards a tunnel close to the field.

The old Remus had a realisation of his own and finally remembered what was to follow. His cheeks began to burn a crimson red. The adult Sirius had realised it too.

“D-do you remember what happens now?”

“Oh,  _ oh,  _ of course, I do.”

As soon as Sirius reached the tunnel, Remus grabbed him by his collar pushing him up against the wall and crashed his lips with his.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was when the door of the bar didn’t open? I had to blast it off and then put it back to keep the girls in.”

Sirius’ breath was coming out heavy. Angry and flustered Remus always got him turnt. Remus had now begun to kiss down his neck. He was pressing him further into the wall. Sirius looped his fingers into Remus’ hair and tightened his grip on them earning him a moan in return.

Remus started to go down on him unbuttoning his trousers on the way. Sirius watched as Remus dropped down to his knees and slid down Sirius’ trousers freeing his erection. He watched Remus’ eyes darken as he slowly moved forward and took him in.

Both the adult men stood frozen at the sight. Sirius coughed lightly and Remus looked at him. Properly looked at him and noticed a tiny scar near his left temple. That hadn’t been there before. Remus moved closer and let his fingers out to touch it. A buzz of electricity went through him as his skin met Sirius’. The moaning in the background only added more to it.

“Y-you’ve got a little scar over, over here.” Remus gestured towards his own temple and Sirius simply nodded in return.

“W-we should get going.”

Remus agreed and gestured Sirius to move closer so he could swing the turner around both their necks. Ignoring the hurt in Sirius’ eyes and the throbbing in his own heart, Remus swirled his wand to a random digit on the turner and with a swoosh of light was gone.

The last thing his eyes saw before time got its way was his younger self kissing back Sirius’ and the throbbing in his heart only increased. Memories could be dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you could go back in time, what would you change?


	3. Chapter 3

**12th January 1979, Hogsmeade**

They landed on the soft field again. Had it not been for the absence of the rock walls, Remus would have assumed that they had not travelled at all. Sirius was on the ground not so far away. 

“Why are we back here? What memory did you choose?”

“I don’t know, I simply flicked my wand.”

They cast the invisibility spell on themselves and began moving. 

Not many people could be seen around. The Sun was hours away from setting and yet the security around the place was extremely tight. Several Aurors could be seen guarding the shops. Remus identified them by the purple colour of their uniform. Tonks’ had also been the same. They spot Mad-Eye Moody not far from the Hog’s Head, his artificial eye zooming in all possible directions. Suddenly, it stopped moving and fixed itself towards them. 

Remus noticed at the same moment as Sirius that the eye was perfectly capable of seeing through an invisibility charm. Mad-Eye had once caught all the four Marauders back at Hogwarts when they had tried to get into the library’s restricted section using James’ invisibility cloak in their fifth year. Madam Pince had been furious and had expressed her extreme disappointment, not having expected such behaviour from Remus. Filch rejoiced.

It was their luck that Moody was yet to register what his artificial vision had caught. The afternoon had somehow managed to dim his ‘constant vigilance.’ Sirius took it as an opportunity and started to move around dragging Remus with him to provide a distraction to the eye. It had proved successful as it had lost them and was now scanning everyone at once. Moody furrowed his eyebrows and cast a look inside Aberforth’s bar. He then slowly and with great precision took the eye out and started to examine it. So, the eye was new. 

Sirius led Remus towards the shack and they hid behind the tall grass surrounding it. Remus was looking at the supposedly haunted place warily. Another distraction came in the form of Albus Dumbledore who greeted Moody outside the bar and relieved him from his duties. Remus let out a deep sigh and sat on the muddy grass. 

“That was close.”

“What would happen if we were to get caught?”

“For once, we would be in great trouble for breaking nearly all the Ministry laws and second, the Blacks would probably be fined for being in possession of such a magical object.”

“Good, so we should get caught.”

Remus let out a small laugh and then beckoned Sirius to get up. Both of them did a double-check and much to their delight, Moody had gone. They headed towards the bar and entered. The bell chimed announcing their entrance. Aberforth glanced at the door for a mere second and then went back to cleaning his glasses. 

A huge cheer erupted from a table nearby. Remus and Sirius looked at it and much to their surprise saw their own young selves and their group of friends roaring in delight. James was beaming and kept on patting Lily’s belly who looked at him with a look of deep fondness. It struck Remus at the moment that this was an important memory. This is the day that would mark the beginning and end of the war. Lily had just announced her pregnancy to her friends. Dumbledore was also present at their little meeting. He raised a glass and another cheer erupted from the table much to Aberforth’s annoyance. 

“Wonderful to hear about a new member of the family. Congratulations to the happy couple!” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled lightly and he then politely excused himself from the table and went upstairs to a room in the pub.

Remus cast a look at Sirius and he saw the pain radiating from his eyes. Maybe, he did remember this memory as the last time all the four Marauders and the girls had been together ‘happily’. The next time they met was at the Mckinnon’s funeral. And the next one never came.

The chime at the door rang again and as if it was on cue, the cheer died down immediately. Even Aberforth had put down his rag and stared sceptically at the newcomer. All the four boys had got up immediately, wands ready.

“What’s a Death Eater like yourself doing here, Snivellus?” Sirius saw himself talking to indeed Severus Snape who had entered the bar wearing his usual black robes. His eyes never left Lily.

“Come here to attack, Snivelly? Can’t do anything with those friends of yours!”

“Why you little-”

“I invited him here!” Lily stood up and James immediately put an arm around her back. She smiled at him and then spoke again.

“I invited him here, I wanted to tell him the news as well.”

Severus appeared confused for a while until he looked at her carefully and put two and two together. Her slightly big belly and the weight gain. She was pregnant. But it appeared that all he could see was James’ arm around her back. He huffed lightly and the wands were raised again. 

Managing a tight-lipped smile and with his disgust clearly reflecting, Snape muttered a light ‘congratulations’ and left for upstairs, his cloak swishing away the dust on the floor. 

Lily was greatly saddened by Snape’s reaction. She had expected that maybe her being pregnant might serve as the last option to their depleting friendship. She had thought it to be a great idea for reconciliation. 

“I’m gonna see what that bastard is up to.” Sirius had tried to run after him but James had stopped him and asked to let him go. Lily, who started to cry silently was to be the topmost priority. Hence, the friends collectively head out and left for their respective homes. Remus and Sirius apparated together.

“What do you think he was up to, that night?” Sirius asked Remus now that their young ones had gone and a Silencio was cast around them.

“Let’s find out.”

They headed up towards the various rooms the pub had for any lonely or too-drunk-to-travel witch or wizard who wished to stay for a night. The Silencio charm prevented the creaking of the stairs from giving them away. Almost close to reaching the first floor, they heard a strange noise coming from a door.

The voice was raspy and had a certain shrill to it that gave it an uncanny sound. It was something that was not commonly heard. Remus held his palm towards Sirius and signalled him towards the source. There in the dark, in the lurking shadows with his bat-like appearance and eyes like a snake, was their nemesis himself listening carefully to every word that was said out loud. His eyes were wide open in shock and his mouth arranged itself in the form of a victorious smirk. Remus could see the gears running in his head. Snape had heard something that was crucial to him. But what the words meant or said was beyond his comprehension. 

Sirius was frozen at his spot. He was a little ahead of Remus and he seemed to have caught on to the words. The colour was draining fast from his body. Remus had to shake him multiple times to catch his attention and as soon as he did so, his eyes caught the sight of Severus and Remus for the first time in nearly fifteen years he saw pure rage reflect from those silver orbs. He raised his wand aiming directly at Snape.

“Stupefy!”

Snape went entirely still and fell down on the floor with a loud thud. The voice from the room had stopped and footsteps could be heard coming from it. Sirius pointed his wand towards the body on the floor and stunned him again. He cast a quick disillusionment on it and kept quiet. Remus ignored his aching knees and hurried towards the pair. 

The door creaked open and Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the room. His blue eyes dulled from their usual twinkle. He looked around and on finding nothing quickly went downstairs and apparated away with a soft ‘pop’. A coughing woman remained in the room. She began to pack her belongings and got up to head out.

“Professor Trelawney!” Remus quietly whispered. “She teaches Divination at Hogwarts.”

Sirius flinched at the word ‘divination’. He looked at Remus with his eyes flooded with tears and worry. The dark corner and the only illuminant in the room cast an ethereal glow on him. Upon Remus’ continued silence, he spoke very softly,

“She made the prophecy.” Sirius was shivering now. The wind blew into the room through one of the open windows causing it to shut with a loud noise-making both of them jump simultaneously.

“The prophecy that-”

“Yes”

Remus placed his palm on Sirius’ shoulder who flinched again with the sudden contact. Remus withdrew the hand immediately. Sirius looked towards Remus and he noticed that his lip had started to tremble.

“W-we were here seconds ago. W-we could have s-stopped it back then and we d-didn’t.” 

Remus’ heart ached as Sirius was slowly starting to completely break down. His eyes began to pool with tears, his shoulders sagged and Remus quickly took him into his arms. It was their first embrace after their brief ‘meeting’ in the shack two years ago. Sirius held onto Remus tightly and Remus returned it. Snape lay once again unconscious on the floor, soon to come to a wrong conclusion. 

After what seemed like light-years, Sirius withdrew himself away and looked down at Snape. 

“We need to do something.”

“We need to interfere with his memories. Erase every bit of today and leave behind something else.”

Sirius nodded and used his wand to levitate Snape’s body making him sit against the wall. The disillusionment on all three of them had started to fade. 

Sirius pointed his wand towards Snape’s forehead and thought immensely of today’s events.

“Obliviate.”

Unsatisfied, he did it again and then again until Remus had to stop him doing any more damage that may arouse suspicion. Then, he crouched down to Snape’s level and touched his wand to his forehead.

“Falsa Memoriae”

A string glowing with yellow erupted from the tip of Remus’s wand and encircled itself around Snape’s head. It grew darker and darker until it vanished immediately. Snape’s eyes fluttered. Sirius stunned him again and levitated his body to drop him down on the ground creating a huge racket. Remus cast quick invisibility on them.

The bartender, Aberforth came running upstairs and quickly found Severus. He picked him up from his robes and dragged him down all the fifteen stairs and then threw him out. 

Remus apparated them out of the pub and they landed on the wet grass outside. The sky had darkened and the first drop of rain poured down on a near-by puddle with a little splash. The coolness surrounded them seemed in some way welcoming. Remus racked his brains to search for alternatives to the created present. So, this is why Dumbledore kept Snape with him. It was Snape who had informed Voldemort of the prophecy causing the Potters to go into hiding and him being isolated from them. Perhaps that was the period they had started to doubt Remus’ allegiance. His werewolf missions had started to prolong and left him to the bare minimum both in terms of money and survival. He was living with Sirius at that time and had assumed that Sirius’ apparent change of nature and refusal of intimacy was just his imagination caused as a result of paranoia. He had never thought that he would be left utterly lonely even after having friends and a lover. 

Perhaps it was the first mission that had begun it all, the series of unfortunate events. He had to stay a week longer than expected and upon his return had found out that his mother, Hope Lupin had lost her fight to cancer and breathed her last in a muggle hospital. Her funeral was held shortly afterwards. His father had assumed Remus to be dead as well and conducted the funeral without him. Sirius was the only one of his friends to have gone to it. He was the only one to have put a bouquet of bright blue hydrangeas near her casket. The only one who had held him when the tragedy had struck. That was the first time Sirius’ arms around them had felt foreign. 

“Sirius, can we go see my mother?” Remus asked a little too abruptly.

“Sure.”

So, Remus hung the locket around both of their necks and swirled his wand to the digits of thirteenth April, nineteen seventy-nine, a date he could never forget. The light whooshed, the noise smashed and Remus closed his eyes.

**13th April 1979, The Royal London Hospital**

The rain was pouring down heavily on the streets of London. Not a single soul could be seen in sight. Muggle cars zoomed around splashing walls as they sped over puddles. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, thirty-five years of age, landed on the concrete pavement outside the hospital. Their clothes drenched wet with the rain. Sirius got up quickly and rubbed his palms together trying to get rid of the mud that had accumulated on it. Remus sat on the ground with his head hung low and eyes closed. His back was hurting again. His shoulders slouched down heavy with the burden of the upcoming event. 

“Remus, are you okay?”

Remus nodded and got up, refusing all kinds of support. Sirius charmed both their clothes clean and lifted the invisibility charm as well. They entered the hospital.

“Hello, we’re here for a visit.”

The receptionist glanced up and down at the two men standing in front of her. She looked sceptical of them but decided to push past her prejudices.

“A visit to?”

“Mrs Hope Lupin.” Sirius offered the answer and the receptionist guided them to Nightingale Ward, Bay 3, bed 7. They took the lift and soon found themselves standing outside the said door. 

Remus’ hands had started to shake. After the brief glance at his mother at the station, this was the time he was to see her again. This time for the final. He was to bid the very last goodbye and it hurt, even more, knowing this was to be the last one. The clock on the wall struck two and let out a tiny squeak but that was enough to bring Remus to the present. He wasn’t going to face his mother for the very last time with a sad face. He was going to be brave for her. He was going to be brave for her like she was for him. 

He knocked on the door gently and a soft ‘come in’ followed it. Remus’ heart leapt in his chest as he heard the voice for the very first time in nearly fifteen years. He creaked open the door and let himself in. Sirius soon followed after, his hand placed heavily on the small of Remus’ back. 

“Remus?”

“Mum”

He stared at her feeble form lying on the hospital bed. Blue walls surrounded her and the room was scented by the bouquet of hydrangeas next to her bed. Her favourite muggle novel lay on the bedside. Hope’s face broke into the tiniest of smiles that she could muster and she pushed her body upwards to sit down. Remus immediately went by her side and helped her sit on the bed. He placed back her white blanket on her that had crumbled out of her reach with the effort. 

“Oh, Sirius is with you too! Hello, love. You seemed to have thinned a little.” She looked at him with worry and Sirius felt like an intruder interrupting such a moment. She had not commented on Remus’ ever skinning form. 

“Good to see you too, Mrs Lupin.”

“Please, just call me Hope. Why don’t you boys sit down here? Let me call for tea.”

“It’s okay; it’s probably their lunchtime anyways.”

Hope’s face broke into an even wider smile as she looked at Remus lovingly. Her green eyes reflected the unconditional love she had for her son. This hospital scene took her back a few years when she had sat by Remus’ bed after his first transformation. He was only five. She took out her shaking, bony hand out of the blanket and reached a little to touch the scars on Remus’ face. She had never wanted to memorise them. She had asked him a million times to try the muggle scar removal creams for them but she was met with the same excuse every time. ‘Muggle creams can’t heal magical scars, mum’ Oh, how they had taken those days for granted. Now, she lay on a hospital bed wishing for a magical cream that could heal her muggle scars. Her son sat by her. She was only forty-five.

“How have you been, Remus? You look worried.”

Remus bit back his tears and mustered enough courage to reply. Sirius stood beside him providing every ounce of support he could with his hand on Remus’ shoulder.

“I’ve been okay, h-how are you?”

“I’ve been living every day like my last.” Hope chuckled lightly at her own remark. Her laugh reminded Sirius so much of Remus’. How her eyes crinkled and her lower lip twitched with the sound. Her nostrils flared and she let out a deep sigh. 

Remus tried smiling just to please his mother but it barely came out. Only if she knew how true her very own words were. 

The hospital room suddenly glowed silver and the sound of lightning followed it. Hope had closed her eyes and enjoyed the sound as if it were music to her ears. Remus was suddenly reminded of her younger self enjoying the rainy season. She had lived in America for most of her life before her marriage and was thrilled to move to London. She had fallen in love with the weather here. She loved the thunder, the splash of rain and how the light would come first and then the sound. Remus could still clearly recall the dance moves she loved to do in the rain. She would pretend to be a peacock and let every raindrop shimmer down her skin as let herself loose in the downpour.

She opened her eyes and they met with Remus’ hazel ones. Her eyes expressed her desire to let herself go one last time but she let it subside. Remus prevented any of his emotions to show on his face. He wanted her last memory of him to be of him smiling. He wanted her to leave the world feeling loved and being successful in teaching Remus how to. 

The rest of the hour passed away quickly. He asked her about nothing and absolutely everything. Every little detail of her life, her favourite hobby at the hospital, her plans for after-life which had finally cracked Remus and he finally laughed. She had beamed at him. 

Before the separation could become unbearable and Remus had started to stand to leave, Hope spoke once again.

“Remus?”

“Yes, mum?” His voice had cracked but Hope chose to ignore it. What she was about to say was more important.

“Can you do me a favour?”

“Sure, anything for you.”

“Open the third drawer”

Remus did as he was told.

“Take that envelope out and empty it.”

Remus unsealed the envelope and took out the piece of paper that was in it. He read it carefully and immediately shook his head into a solid NO.

“I can’t take this mum.” He placed the cheque back into the envelope and put it on her bed.

“Remus, you have to take it. I know how things are for you in your world. Take this please.”

“Mum, I cannot do this. This is your hard-earned money, all your life savings!”

“Hard-earned money for you, all my savings are for you, my love.”

Remus refused to meet her eyes and looked down at the crack on the tiled floor. 

“Remus, look at me, please.” Remus looked up at her.

“Promise me you will take this money. I cannot die in peace leaving my son behind in ruins. Let this be my dying wish, Remus, you can’t take that away from me.”

“Does Dad know?”

“Of course, he does.” Remus was suddenly hit with the memory of his father offering him money over the course of his life. Remus had refused all of those times. 

“I promise.” So, he took the envelope from her and Sirius grabbed it from him. He excused himself out of the room and went outside. 

Sirius apparated himself to Diagon Alley, almost immediately and went for Gringotts where he converted the money and deposited it into Remus’ account. He came back to find Remus sitting outside the hospital room, deep in thought. As soon as he saw Sirius approaching, he led them outside the hospital and swung the turner around his neck and was out of this place before the clock could strike four.

***

Remus knew he had rushed himself from the hospital. The time of Hope’s last breath was drawing close and he could no longer stay. He kissed his cheek for the last time and had left the room. Perhaps, if he had stayed for the funeral, he wouldn’t have missed the three bouquets on her tomb. He was about to go look for Sirius when a similar face caught his eye. A battered copy of The Daily Prophet laid on the chair. He had found his next destination. 

**1st January 1979, Warren Street, London**

They landed in a garden and Remus wasted no time. He got up, led Sirius up and showed him the newspaper.

_‘BLACK HEIR FOUND DEAD’_

“What?”

“Read it, further.”

_‘Regulus Black, the youngest Black and the heir to the entire family fortune after the very public disownment of his brother, Sirius Black was found dead under mysterious conditions. Experts at St. Mungo’s have identified the body to have been ten days old and the most probable cause of death appeared to be drowning. He was brought into the hospital by the Black’s house-elf and his cousin, Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black) both of whom have been taken for investigation by senior Auror, Alastor Moody. The young Black was alleged to be a supporter of you-know-who and is suspected to have been murdered for defying orders. Black’s body was reported to be found near Wool's cave. His clothes were torn, several prints of hands marked his body and a locket was also found dangling from his neck. The locket has been described as missing. The Black Family have requested their privacy in their time of grief.’_

The newspaper was dated 12th January 1979. Remus had travelled back eleven days. Regulus was alive and could be very much saved. 

“What do we do now?”

“He should be at headquar- Grimmauld Place.”

Both the men walked the distance leading to Sirius’ childhood house. The world around them was celebrating the oncoming of a new year and was busy either getting drunk or singing songs in praise of the queen. They reached the place and glanced towards the small gap between Numbers 11 and 13. 

Both the houses started to move apart. The muggles who lived there remained oblivious to the commotion around them. The houses split and Number 12 came into view. 

Sirius pitched his plan to hide behind one of the bushes near his house and wait till the bugger was to step out of the house and kidnap him. Remus had thought better of it and decided that while they waited behind the bushes, they were to simply follow him and prevent Voldemort from murdering him for whatever order he had defied. 

And so, they had been hiding behind the bushes for two hours now. The Sun had set and the crescent moon shone brightly in the sky. Sirius spotted the Leo constellation up in the sky and looked at Regulus, the star, the brightest of his constellation. Not so far away was Sirius.

Luck was in their favour as Regulus soon stepped out of the house, Kreacher following him. He let out a deep sigh and breathed in the fresh air before glancing up at the starred sky. He looked back down, muttered a few words to Kreacher and apparated away. Remus had placed a tracking charm immediately and also apparated away holding on to Sirius along with him. 

With a loud pop, Remus and Sirius reached the Wool’s cave seconds after Regulus had arrived. The cool breeze reached their face and the waves crashing against the rocks was soothing to hear. Frightened and having jumped from such an unexpected sound, Regulus drew his wand at them, unable to identify them at first. 

“Reggie?”

“Sirius? Is that you? Merlin, you look so old! You must be Lupin!”

Sirius huffed slightly at the comment and Remus nodded in acknowledgement.

“Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same.”

Regulus quickly looked down at his locket and removed it from around his neck. He then looked at Remus and spotted a familiar locket around his neck.

“Is that-?”

“Yes and let’s not waste any more time on questions, shall we? Now listen carefully, we’re here from the present, whatever you are to here, stop it. You are going to die-”

“Horcruxes”

“Excuse me?” The word sounded familiar to Remus but he couldn’t place where exactly. 

“The Dark Lo- You-know-who made Horcruxes. I don’t know how many, there could be more. I only found the locket. It’s in a basin beyond the lake. Kreacher knows how to get there and we can-”

“No, you’re not doing it alone! You will die! We need to tell Dumbledore.”

“If you-know-who got the slightest idea that I had found his secret, he would have all our heads for it!”

“But he wouldn’t know now, would he? You haven’t technically found the locket yet. Leave it here and give this information to Dumbledore.”

“And then what do I do?” That was hope shining through Regulus’ eyes. He looked at his brother expectedly.

“You could come to our side, we could hide you, protect you-

“What about mother and father? Where would they hide?”

“Death Eaters don’t need to hide!”

“They’re not Death Eaters, Sirius! They never were! It was only me. They’ve realised their mistake.”

Sirius was stunned at this information. The portrait of his beloved mother had never really informed him about that. 

“So, what do I do?” Regulus asked again. 

“Go to Dumbledore, send him a letter, anything and arrange a meeting. Tell him everything and fight from the right side.” Remus provided the answer Regulus was yearning to hear and he nodded towards him.

“Okay then, until we meet again.”

Sirius engulfed his brother into a tight hug and wished him ‘good luck’ in a very hushed tone. Regulus was taken by surprise but soon returned the embrace. He then apparated away and Kreacher followed after him. 

Sirius looked at Remus now, smiling. 

“Thank you.”

“Thank YOU.”

“So, uh what next now?”

“I think we should head back.”

Sirius nodded and Remus swirled his wand in the practised motion.

There was a giant whoosh of light, a smash of noise and time stopped. And then it turned over, thought a bit and began to spool, backwards, slow at first and then it sped up.

** Epilogue **

The First Wizarding War had been prolonged to several years. The Order had lost many of its pivotal members, Alastor Moody being one of them. 

Dumbledore had claimed that a secret source had tipped him off about Voldemort’s greatest secret and he had begun his hunt to look for them. It took him nineteen years to find and destroy them all. A great battle had taken place at Hogwarts. James Potter had lost both of his legs in one of the fights but he was more than grateful to have survived. Lily Potter was proud of both her husband and son, who had fought in the war. A little girl was on the way.

Regulus had been into hiding for nearly seventeen years but was secretly doing his part of the Order. His experience as an ex-Death Eater had served useful and played a major role in tracking down nearly all of Voldemort’s activities. 

Remus had refused his werewolf missions and devoted all his time in assisting Regulus and often accompanied Sirius on guard or patrol duties. 

As soon as the war had ended, Remus and Sirius had reconciled and bought a flat in muggle London, not so far from the Warren Street where they weekly met Regulus. Kreacher was nice to the both of them and on Regulus’ order refused to utter another slur. They had finally managed to take down Walburga’s portrait and had put it back in the attic. The grandfather clock was brought down. 

The two hands ticked away. All was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! <3


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